I originally wrote a super clever (well, to me) intro to this post. But it was all about the 4th of July, and obviously I didn’t end up getting this published in time.
So let’s skip the intro, ok? We’re all just in it for the projects anyways.
This ring dish is so so easy to make—you don’t have to sculpt or anything, all you need is a jumbo cookie cutter and polymer clay!
DIY Pineapple Ring Dish
Skill Level: Easy Peasy
Time: 1 hour-ish, plus drying time if you use paint
What You Need:
- 5″ pineapple cookie cutter*
- polymer clay* (6 oz. will make 2 ring dishes)
- butter knife or craft knife*
- rolling pin* (or use an empty beer bottle!)
- a little cup of water
- an oven!
- sandpaper* (optional)
- paint pens*
- spray paint* and painter’s tape* (optional)
Note: I used a big 1lb block of polymer clay since I knew I would be making multiple ring dishes, but if you want to make just one or two, 2 of those standard 3 oz. packs will be enough.
*Affiliate links. This means if you purchase, I will earn a small commission at no extra charge to you, which is pretty sweet because it helps me pay blogging bills, so thank you! I will only link to products I have used or would use myself, pinky promise!
What You Do:
Step One – Cut off a chunk of clay and make a ball somewhere between the size of a plum and a tennis ball. Warm the clay in your hands and roll it around so it becomes easier to work with.
Step Two – Flatten the ball of clay into a pancake, then roll it out until it’s roughly 1/4″ thick and a little bigger than the cookie cutter. You can be all fancy with a crafting rolling pin if you want, but an empty beer bottle works just as well.
Step Three – Cut out the pineapple shape with the cookie cutter. Keep the clay scraps and any leftover clay sealed in a baggie to stay useable for up to a year. Go ahead and preheat your oven to the temperature on the clay package.
Step Four – Gently use your fingers to widen the clay pineapple enough so it will sit on top of the cookie cutter (the cookie cutter will be the “mold” for the bowl). The best way to do this is to start in the middle and pull the clay out towards the sides, being careful not to let it get too thin.
Step Five – Place the clay pineapple on top of the cookie cutter. Form a bowl or dish shape by pushing the middle down and molding the edges over the sides of the cookie cutter, so that the clay kind of hangs there and stays in place. You can make the bowl as deep or as shallow as you want. I didn’t photograph this step in a very illustrative way, so hopefully this description makes sense!
Step Six – Dip your finger in the cup of water and gently smooth out any bumps and fingerprints. Take your time with this step, as it’s much harder to remove them after the clay has been baked. But don’t go crazy either, perfection is overrated.
Step Seven – Bake the whole thing, cookie cutter and all, according to package directions (usually 15 minutes for every 1/4″ of thickness). If you have a toaster oven, this is the perfect time to use it! Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. It will still feel a little soft when it’s warm, but will harden during cooling.
**Note: After being baked and cooled, the polymer clay will still be a wee bit flexible. Not enough that you could reshape it without breaking it, but just don’t be alarmed if it feels a little “bendy,” it’s supposed to be that way!
Step Eight – (optional, not pictured because clay dust and cameras don’t mix) Lightly sand the dish with fine grit sandpaper to smooth it out. You can skip this step if you want, I just had to make mine extra fancy-looking for the photos, ’cause I’m totally profesh.
Step Nine – Decorate! I used spray paint and a paint pen to embellish my pineapples, then finished with a clear satin spray to give them a nice sheen. Clearly I adored Hello Lidy’s Swiss Cross Pineapple so much that I had to make my own! And how could I resist another chance to color-block something?
And that’s it! Toss some jewelry in there and display. It would also make a perfect coin/key catchall for your boyfriend to dump all his stuff in when he walks in the door (no more excuses, A.).
This pendant is a project too! DIY Color-Blocked Triangle Earrings
And now for something a little different—my neighbor was curious the other day how I had space to make everything look so nice in my final project photos, so I thought it’d be fun to give you guys a peek behind the scenes. This is the chaos I bring into our home whenever I’m working on a project:
Cropping is a blogger’s best friend.
